1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a method for advertising within virtual environments of games played over a network. Advertisements are used as plug-ins for 3D texture areas within an Internet game, as a non-interactive means of advertising, which is directed to a wide variety of players having a multitude of different demographic profiles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Use of the Internet as a global communications network has dramatically increased over the past decade. A wide variety of companies can market, advertise, and sell their respective products via the worldwide web. The advertising activity can receive effective and immediate responses because the many users are mindful of the many client software programs (i.e. web browsers) available. The Internet is extensively used for entertainment purposes as well, and repositories for playing games are one of the many services provided by the Internet
Known in the art are methods for advertising over a network, and more notably, methods for combining automated casino-type games with real-time product advertising. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,879, Goldberg, et al. Information regarding goods or services are exchanged between users as they play games such as blackjack, craps, or roulette, etc. Exchanged advertising information is adapted to be shown to users who fit a general demographic profile. The game players may interactively respond to questionnaires or enticing product information.
Advertising is also simultaneously implemented in computer games that enable remote participants to respond to live broadcast sporting games described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,088, Vaughn et al. Interactive ad messages are transmitted and downloaded from a central computer system means and made available for immediate feedback by the network user following the game.
In conjunction with TV and radio advertisements, ads via the Internet are disruptive, and they are displeasing to a user not looking for such marketing ploys. Also, most advertisers wish to direct the ads towards specific viewers or listeners, but this becomes too difficult over such a vast network, and ads are unintentionally shown to a wide demographic. The wide variety of people using a global network such as the worldwide web makes it difficult for the advertiser to know which advertisement or location of the advertisement is most effective, and, in particular, there is no way of measuring an actual audience. Network game playing servers can match some demographic profiles to aim specific advertisements towards a select user, but the range of the profile is still lacking, as certain games themselves already attract a specific group. Internet game players and worldwide web users want to play interactively in the games, not further encumbered with the interruption of surveys and advertisements. Marketing companies can still, however, advertise effectively within games played over a network that would influence users of a larger demographic profile, while the game player is not disrupted from the game environment, and is not prompted or asked to focus his/her attention away from the featured game screen.